


A Mother's Touch

by Artemis1000



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Gen, Ghosts, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Relationship Study
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-13
Updated: 2018-05-13
Packaged: 2019-05-06 07:51:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14637378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Artemis1000/pseuds/Artemis1000
Summary: Leia never tells Luke of the ghost that has been with her all her life. This secret is hers, and hers alone.





	A Mother's Touch

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by Anonymous in the [StarWarsMothersDayPromptFest](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/StarWarsMothersDayPromptFest) collection. 



> Written for a prompt in the Star Wars Mothers' Day Prompt Fest: Leia never told anyone about the ghost, not even Luke; that was her secret.

Leia never told anyone about the ghost, not even Luke. At first, she had been a child who knew she wouldn’t be believed any more than when she complained about the monsters under her bed, then she had feared being thought mad or mocked, and by the time she learned that the Force ran strong in her blood and impossible things were far from impossible to her, it had long since become her secret and hers alone.

When Leia was a small child, she had had one mother who would play in the sunlight with her and teach her and pull her into tight, warm embraces, and another mother who would only visit her in that half-awake state between sleeping and waking. This mother would chase away her nightmares and whisper stories of a time long past until she fell asleep again.

When she was a teenager, she once flung her comb at the apparition which she could see now even by daylight, but only when she was alone. “What good are you even, if you can’t _do_ anything?!” she had yelled, driven to tears of frustration by her birth mother’s insistence that she had to listen to her adoptive parents and be cautious, be smart, keep out of the spotlight no matter how many wrongs there were to right in the galaxy.

“I know, Leia,” Padmé Amidala said and looked so sad and wise, and so regal in her translucent beauty, forever frozen in time. “I wish…” She looked merely sad then and made to reach for Leia before she thought better of it, maybe remembering that she had never once managed to touch her. “If I could fight for you still, I would. But you have to be brave now and fight for yourself, and I don’t want to lose you before you can.”

Just a few years later, Leia was curled at the feet of the statues built in honor of her parents, quieting her sobs even now for she could only show her tears when it was late, and no one was around to see or hear her. Padmé enfolded her in ghostly arms but all Leia felt was a cold shiver when they passed right through her.

It took three more years for Leia to stand tall and proud before her mother as she met her spectral gaze. The fireworks high above bathed them in myriad colors, Padmé more so than her. She had told Leia that she wore many colorful dresses in life, forever bright and vibrant. Leia had only known her veiled in shimmering grey but now Padmé Amidala was bathed in rich greens and reds and every hue of royal purple once more.

“We are going to rebuild the Republic,” Leia vowed, steel in her voice.

Padmé smiled and caressed her cheek, a trickle of ice against Leia’s skin. “I never doubted you would.” Her smile wasn’t sad. “And I will remain at your side for as long as you need me.”


End file.
